Homes are becoming more wired and connected with the proliferation of computing devices such as desktops, tablets, entertainment systems and portable communication devices. As these computing devices evolve, many different ways have been introduced to allow users to interact with them, such as through mechanical devices (e.g., keyboards, mice, etc.), touch screens, motion detectors and gesture recognition systems. Another way to interact with computing devices is through speech.
One drawback with speech recognition is that vocal interaction with a computing device can be affected by noises present in the room, the volume of the individual speaking, the location of the individual relative to the device and the orientation of the individual relative to the device. While there are advanced techniques available to extract speech from the audio signal, doing so in near real-time is computationally expensive.